Eldest Sister, Why Haven't You Married Yet Chapter 51

Published at 11th of November 2022 10:35:19 AM

Chapter 51. Following trend

A loud call of a rooster could be heard in the distance. The faint mist mixed with the rising cooking smoke from the village. Exact image of a quiet spring morning in a farming family's homeland.

Early-riser You Jin evenly sprinkled the chopped wild vegetables and earthworms mix into the chicken pen. The fourteen sniffing chicks had lost its newborn yellow feather. All the exponentially grown chicks swarmed out and clucked. They happily pecked at the delicious earthworms and wild vegetables.

After feeding the chicks, she went back to the kitchen stove to add two more firewood. Mrs. Su, who got up a little later than her, also came to the kitchen: "Let me. Aren't you taking You Yin to the city? She's not up yet!"

You Jin didn't fight with her and nodded: "En. I'm calling her right now."
Then she scooped a ladle of water from the wooden bucket and poured it into the wooden basin for washing to wash her hands. After casually tossing it out, she went to the west wing.

Before You Jin reached the door of the west wing, two little girls quietly opened the door- it turned out You Zhu had woken up. When she heard You Yin getting up, she also got up and put on clothes. While You Bao hadn't woken up yet. So the two of them sneaked out like thieves.

Seeing Eldest Sister standing at the door of her room, You Zhu hurriedly puffed out her small chest: "Eldest Sister, I'm going too!"

"You Zhu, Eldest sister and I are going to sell things. Not to play." You Yin powerlessly persuaded her. "You help Mother take care of the few younger sisters at home, alright?"

However, You Zhu refused and insisted to follow. The sisters were at a stalemate for a while. So they turned their attention to You Jin for help.

You Jin pondered for a while before replying: "To enter the city, a fee of one wen need to be paid. Afterward, we are rushing to enter the city. On top of that, we need one wen to ride an ox cart. I can take you there, but you have to earn two wen by yourself. How about it?"

After thinking about it, You Zhu vigorously nodded: "En!"
Seeing that Eldest Sister agreed, You Yin didn't have anything else to say. The three sisters put the fresh tea tree mushrooms picked up yesterday in three back baskets. After washing up, they carried the basket and headed towards the city gate of Luohe Prefecture. Every time they went to the city to sell things, there was no time for breakfast. Breakfast had to wait until they come back from the market.

You Jin made a trip into the city every two days. They always take the same ox cart. The driver became familiar with Su Family's kids. At the beginning, the big wooden barrel had an one wen fee. Now, it was only per person. He jollily chatted with the few. They were considered to be acquainted.

"Little girl, you bring things into the city to sell every few days. You must have earned a lot of money, right?" The uncle slowly drove the cart and jollily asked.

You Jin kept a slight smile on her expression. Seeing the other passengers in the cart looking at her, she grinningly replied: "Oh! What money can I make? I have a lot of family members. And my mother is not in good health. So us three sisters gather some vegetables every day to exchange for money. How much money can they earn?"

Although the sisters' clothes were clean, they were all patched and stitched. Then looking at the pile of large leaves at the top of their baskets, their gaze turned away in disbelief. Those were standard vegetable farmers sold.

Seeing that everyone's eyes finally turned away, You Jin breathed a sigh of relief. There was a bit of coldness in her eyes. She didn't know this uncle was being outspoken or deliberately attracting hate to them! Looks like they were going to have to switch to another cart. Fortunately, he wasn't the ox cart transporting people to LuoHh Prefecture in Wuliqiao.

***

After paying the entrance fee, You Jin first took her two younger sisters to Yunweixuan in the east side to see if they wanted it. Afterward, they'll make way to the west side.

As for Yunweixuan, they came out on top with the mandarin fish feast in Luohe from the seventy plus mandarin fish bought from Su Family. Second Master Huang was rewarded by the main branch. He was grateful to Su Family! Hearing from the back chef say the little girls from Su Family had brought freshly picked tea tree mushrooms, Second Master Huang was naturally happy to take it all.

The villagers didn't know tea tree mushrooms was edible. After all, there was news of death from consuming mushrooms every year. So the villagers were repulsed by the thought of mushrooms. But who was Second Master Huang? He was a famous old foodie in Luohe Prefecture. Naturally, he knew how delicious the tea tree mushrooms were after the spring rain. In addition, the tea tree mushrooms picked by You Jin sisters were of excellent quality. Naturally, he can't miss this opportunity.

You Jin was a little stunned. In her pocket was the money the young staff have her. It was sold out like this? You Yin and You Zhu, who were behind her, were also a little astounded. You Zhu looked at Eldest Sister's empty basket: "Eldest Sister, where are we going now?" This mushroom was gone as soon as they entered the city. So how should she make money?

You Jin just came back to her senses: "Let's go to the West Market to buy some grains. Then a few jins of lard suet."
The oil tank at home reached the bottom. There wasn't much food left. Anyway, it was still early. They can shop a bit.

This time, You Jin was willing to break the bank. Instead of buying sorghum and coarse grains, she bought much better-tasting brown rice. A dou of brown rice cost her three silver. On top of that was five jins of lard suet.

A dou of brown rice was divided into two and placed in the back baskets of You Jin and You Yin. You Zhu's contained five jins of lard suet. The newly earned one liang was already half spent.

The three sisters carried the same weight as they did when they came. The footsteps didn't slow down as they nosily returned to Su's house in Wuliqiao.

The three's early return shocked Mrs. Su and the others. After a look, they discovered the restaurant that came to the house to pull the fish that day had accepted all the mushroom. Mrs. Su deeply thanked in the direction of Luohe Prefecture. Afterward, she earnestly spoke to You Jin: "Jin-er, Second Master Huang has helped our family so much. He's our benefactor. You have to thank him!"

Putting the newly bought brown rice into the storeroom, You Jin nodded: "Mother, I know."
Although she and Yunweixuan had a fair deal, what Mrs. Su said was also reasonable. If it weren't for benefactor Second Master Huang, these things might not sell at this price.

After putting everything in place, she took out nine wen and distributed them to You Yin and You Zhu and You Bao respectively: "These three wens are earned by your labor even though it's a little."

The three sisters looked at each other in fear; unable to guess Eldest Sister's intention. They didn't dare to receive the silver.

You Jin directly stuffed the money into the three's hands: "All the labor we put in should be rewarded. Although we are a family, we can't do everything in vain, right? As long as it can bring benefits to our family, we can receive the corresponding share in the future."
Seeing that the three were still hesitant, You Jin put the silver into their hands: "However, once you have money, you can't spend it indiscriminately. You should spend the money where it should be spent, understand?"

The three sisters tightly held the three copper plates in their hands. It felt like they have grown a lot at this moment. They can also make money for the family! Listening to Eldest Sister's words, they seriously nodded: "I understand."

In fact, there was no need for You Jin to explain. The three younger sisters won't randomly spend money. After all, they were all people who were used to living in poverty. It was strange if they spend it instead of hiding it!

You Jin entered the kitchen and gave Mrs. Su 100 wen. The money that was distributed to everyone when they moved was handed over to You Jin after the family settled down at Wuliqiao. Right now, Mrs. Su didn't have any money.

Looking at the string of copper coins tied with hemp rope handed over by her daughter, Mrs. Su was a little overwhelmed: "Jin-er, what are you doing?"

"Money is necessary to run a home. One hundred isn't much. Anyway, Mother, it's better to have some money at hand, right?" You Jin smiled faintly, "I can't take care of inside the home. Mother is the head of the family, so naturally room in the wallet.”

Mrs. Su's wet hands wiped and rubbed on the apron in front of her. Her face was a little red. Since coming to Luohe Prefecture, You Jin had invited a doctor for her. Afterward, she kept consuming medicine. Just the medicine alone was costly. She hadn't earned a penny for her family. How can she possibly accept this money?

Seeing her hesitant reaction, You Jin put the money directly into her hand: "Since it's for Mother, keep it."
Although Mrs. Su felt that she was holding back the family, she was still very important. Since she came out of post-natal confinement, she busied away with the daily three meals at home. The torn in the clothes were always first noticed by Mrs. Su. Afterward, she mended late into the night if she had to. f she stays up late. It can be said You Jin's worries were resolved.

You Jin stood in the kitchen. While sorting the fresh and tender green vegetables just picked from the ground, she chatted with Mrs. Su. The mother and daughter worked together and lunch was soon made.

***

Half an hour after lunch was Su Family's afternoon nap.

After the afternoon nap, the sisters swiftly dressed up and went up the mountain with their baskets on their backs. Now that a day had passed, the road up the mountain had dried a lot. Some people in the village had begun to dig bamboo shoots up the mountain.

Behind Su's house, the first batch of women who went up the mountain to dig bamboo shoots encountered You Jin sisters. They looked away with slight embarrassment. On the other hand, You Jin lead her sisters and nodded in greeting: "Hello, Aunties. We are just to the east of the river. Our surname is Su."

The women felt their cheeks burned a little. They vaguely nodded in acknowledgement. Then they sped up the mountain. You Zhu looked at the women and angrily stomped her feet. She didn't say anything though.

Scatter far and near in the vast bamboo forest, there were now seven or eight people digging bamboo shoots. When You Jin saw this situation, she took her few younger sisters to the bamboo forest farther away. She didn't dig bamboo shoots now. And the tea tree mushroom can still make some money. She didn't want people to know it so quickly and then follow the trend. Once they do, she has to think of another way to make money.

Now was a good time to eat spring bamboo shoots. In addition, the mountains full of bamboo shoots cost nothing. The villagers of Wuliqiao had seen Su Family selling bamboo shoots on the street. Afterward, it spread from one to another. Now there were a dozen or so families digging up bamboo shoots and selling them on the street.

However, Luohe Prefecture was a big town. Although these people dug bamboo shoots to sell, there were numerous people buying bamboo shoots. Generally speaking, the supply was still short. Therefore, the people who sell bamboo shoots didn't have much effect on each other. The price of bamboo shoots were a little more than cabbage by one or two wen. That was why, everyone was delighted to dig bamboo shoots.

Chapter end